Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Chicken

August 11, 2014

I wanted something simple and easy today. Something I could pop in the slow cooker and forget about. At least for the next 2 hours. Aren’t slow cookers handy like that? After the pressure cooker, it’s my next favorite gadget. If it is rightly called a gadget. Kitchen tool? Kitchen necessity. Kitchen wonder!

Simple food doesn’t mean you have to compromise deliciousness. Just means you’re cheating a little and winning. So today we’re cooking salsa verde in the slow cooker and depending how you want to savor it, eat simple but well. I’m gonna put them in some tacos but tortillas or tostadas work too. Even rice!

And we are gonna shred it. Because while chicken is good, shredded or pulled chicken is even better. I just love it. Come to think of it? I love pulled anything.

I loved the pulled beef in Cuban Ropa Vieja, even though I probably spent at least 15 minutes just shredding the whole thing. Didn’t love it so much then, but later, all was forgiven. It must be the added texture. Because chicken is chicken is chicken. And beef is beef is beef. But when you pull it…BAM! Texture galore! Plus it makes it look like you’re eating a lot more than you actually are.

It’s a trick but it’s a good one. I read somewhere that another way to fool yourself into thinking you’re eating more and fooling your stomach is to eat slowly and in small bites. Probably why I love crab so much. Because it takes forever to crack open that shell and get to the meaty bits. But it’s so much fun and you can do it for hours and never feel full.

Well eventually you will but that’s besides the point. Plop a ready made meal infront of you and you’re done eating it and you’re full in 10-30 minutes. But with crab, you can go at that thing for hours and just enjoy eating. Maybe I just like being able to eat and eat and eat. Maybe lim just greedy like that. It’s a wonder I’m not the size of a house by now.

Anyway, I’ve been seeing so many plates piled mile high with some pulled meat or other. And they just look so good. So here I am jumping on the pulled meat mountain bandwagon. But sometimes things don’t always go the way you planned. Halfway through shredding, it started raining. And that usually means crappy pictures. So I checked the hourly weather forecast hoping and praying for the rain to stop before sunset. Cloudy, rainy, MAYBE some sun at 5pm. There was nothing left to do but to go back to chicken shredding. I may or may not have taken out my frustration on the chicken. So I’m sorry if the pictures aren’t all that great today.

Talking about shredding, this will be the bulk of your preparation stage. So go put on some music while you do it. It helps to have an extra pair of hands. Also feel free to add in some jalapenos or green chilies if you want it spicier. And if you’re wondering, salsa verde simply means green sauce. Made with tomatillos, jalapeños, chilies, onions, cilantro and lime juice, it’s zesty. It’s fresh. It’s yummy.

Don’t run away just yet. We’re not going to be husking tomatillos and chopping and dicing. I did promise you a simple meal. So we’re going with some store bought salsa verde. If you want to make some yourself, then great! If not, step over this lazy line Im drawing right here on my virtual kitchen floor and join me!

Comments

Love how easy this is to make! Effortless…I need more recipes like this. And yes, I def try to eat slowly too as I find that I end up eating a lot less. Mindful eating is everything hehe. Don’t you just hate it when the weather doesn’t cooperate? Ugh..but I think your photos turned out awesome because I’m drooling 😉

It was good with rice since I forgot to buy tacos that day, but the next day we had it with tacos and burritos and it was GREAT. Added some guacamole, sour cream, refried beans, cheese and of course some hot sauce!

It is SO freezing Down Under today that this is exactly what I feel like! And I so feel ya re: 15 minutes of pulling beef, I had the same prob a few weeks ago for a flop of a pulled beef chilli con carne!! Never heard or thought of using salsa verde for a slow cooked chicken but I’m certainly going to give it a go now!! Awesome pics BTW 🙂

You’re so sweet Nagi 🙂 I still can’t get over how it’s winter there when it’s still summer here. I know, I know, geography and all but it’s still weird! Yeah next time I make pulled anything, I’m recruiting help!

So…I loved everything about this recipe. It was super easy to throw it together. It wasn’t as time consuming as I initially thought and WOW…the flavor was perfectly perfect. I’m thinking my slow cooker runs a little hot because after 20 minutes on high the chicken appeared to be almost cooked through so I turned it down to low. It was definitely done after 2 hours. Thanks so much for sharing!